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Tuesday, 28 June 2016

Brexit – a cause for optimism or despair?

Brexit – a cause for optimism or despair?

I was pretty neutral about the remain or leave question, seeing many benefits and risk of both paths.

After the leave vote won the day, I think many peoplethought more deeply about the future than before the vote. I certainly did.

It seems that for many this was about sticking with what we know and taking a leap into the unknown. Despite all the passionate arguments, no one can truly be sure if we will end up stronger out of the EU, whether some or all of us will be better off, and if it is only some of us, which some of us it will be.

Politicians and other commentators have of course stated their cases as if they did know for sure what the impacts would be, which has damaged them all in a sense.

The choice it seems was very much between the devil and the deep blue sea. Either sticking with an ever more power hungry EU central government with its bureaucracies, costs, and its stated intent of ever closer fiscal and political union and its limp growth but with a generally stable and largely predictable future, or to set sail on the open seas and explore the future and the unknown with greater freedom and to be able to steer our own course.

As a nation very much founded on our history of exploration and sailing into the unknown on voyages of discovery, despite very real risks and dangers, it seems somehow fitting that the country has chosen this path, and I hope as time passes we will all be able to look back and say it was the right thing to do.